I’ve gotten back some responses, some personal criticism…I blanked out their names with xxx…
“Pete, you were very bold to say those things…but your ideas are tainted. ” -xxx
“I’m surprised how far out of context one can drag Kierkegaard, that poor little whelp. Preaching the (Christian?) gospel of brotherly love implies that it?s ok to compromise ideals and sag under pressure? Or that there is no such thing as a lived ideology? Or that the very existence of art is a myth?
I appreciate your bizarre-to-the-point-of-surreal rant Pete, but I personally disagree with nearly every line. If you want to be famous, please be famous, but there are rewards beyond money and fame. Anyway, as the nature of art is rather subjective, I thought I?d throw my voice out as the yin to the yang.
(one of many artists slightly less hip than Pete) (one purist)
PS. No offense to the sellouts on this list (you rat bastards)
PPS. Pete, if you do get famous, will you please hire me to roll out the red carpet? Oh man I need the cash.” -xxx
“Pete, I echo xxx in saying that you are not reading our emails carefully enough. I never implied that SFAI is inherently superior to the Academy of Art or that we are better than their students. I LOVE my students at the Academy – they are intelligent, motivated, creative, funny and they GET TO CLASS ON TIME even at 8*&%$&30 in the morning!
My feeling has always been and is stronger now that SFAI and AAU serve different populations with different goals and needs, as evidenced by their clear mission statements. I admire AAU’s clear and successful goal of turning out students who have strong, professional, commercial portfolios and who understand how to enter the job market. I also completely and fully appreciate that SFAI deliberately does NOT focus on money and jobs but provides a kind of sacred space for considering art as a special historical, philosophical and intellectual entity.
This idea may have only been applied to the field of art for the last century or two but thinking, FOR THINKING’S SAKE, is much older indeed. It may seem a bit foolish, but this is not a mere indulgence; it is essential to the well being of a society to have places that examine society itself from a critical, intellectual viewpoint, free (somewhat) from the constraints of the market.” -xxx
“Doesn’t the the very concept of hypocrisy (“falseness”) imply some “truth”, some “authenticity”, that the “hypocrite” doesn’t live up to? i thought we were supposed to have debunked such models of “ideals” already.” -xxx
“I want whatever job pete has that he has time to write these six page emails. i don’t even have time to read them. ” -xxx
I thought the previous quote was ridiculous because both of my emails were created after 6:30 pm (work finishes at five PM), remember?
“Pete,
Are the people at the Art Academy REALLY as fun and hip as we are? Do you mean- the Academy of Real Estate, I mean of Art University?” -xxx
“Dearest Darling Pete,
I don’t think you are reading my posts very carefully… there is a lot less judgment there than you seem to infer.
Love right back,”
-xxx